In Memory and in Blood
by xenodephrun
Summary: A alternative take on Keitaro's 3rd attempt at the Tokyo U exams. OneShot


Disclaimer: Love Hina and other names mentioned hereof belong to their respective owners and creators.

In Memory, and in Blood

A Love Hina fanfic

By xenphRAGEum

/--

The rain kept pounding on the stations' roof, irrtating him to no end.

Sure, he was to be blamed for starting the fight between him and... Her. He really wished that she didn't say those things in Komaba courtyard. He might've passed the Toudai exams, and... What? Find his supposed promised girl, which may be really a fantasy of his quite vivid imagination, and thus have no bit of truth in it. But there was still a part of him that was hoping that it was all true, that he'll find his promised girl in Toudai, and be with her forever... but that part was quickly stabbed to death with Naru's statement in Komaba courtyard...

His frustration lead him to 2 weeks of depression, and thus decided to go on a trip of finding himself, and decide on what he will finallly do to his miserable life.

It was also the reason he was wet and cold, soaked by the freak rain shower that occurred in Tokyo that day. He brought no change of clothes, just his savings from his part time job during the summer. He thought that they would be quite enough to buy him new clothes and hopefully a new beginning. Of course, that was not the only reason. He wanted to avoid the girls, especially her... after the fight in the bar, he was so ashamed of himself, of treating Naru that way, and thus was not

able to see her in the morning. He knew that it was just escaping the inevitable, but to delay it was already enough.

The train sounded its horn, announcing its arrival, jolting him from his current thoughts.

The sign above the train read 'Train to Kyoto'.

He'd been asleep the whole train ride to Kyoto, wishing that the train was over as soon as it began, He wanted to escape, get away from Hinata-sou, and retreat with his battered body and mind. But to no avail. He still dreamt of her, their happy times studying, and the other 'hurting times'...

Yes, those images were as vivid as the morning sun, those unforgettable images that he still treasured despite what she did to him, despite all the beatings, the insults, the crushing of his fragile heart...

Even after all those things he went through with her, he still wanted to be with her, to go into Toudai with her, to be... Loved by her.

But that might be impossible now, because of ... her.

He got out of the train, into the platform, exited the station, then into the unwelcoming rain.

As he hailed a taxi he wondered what she was doing right now.

/--

Her thoughts wandered as she was looking for him. He'd been missing the whole day, not doing any of his duties as a landlord….

But of course that was not the only reason why she was looking for him.

She'd been worried about what happened to him, where he'd gone, or what his doing right now. Yes, she's worried about him. Not the usual when she'd just treat it with indifference. As she was searching the halls of the annex, she came across a note, which said

Gone For a few days.

-Keitaro

As she repeatedly read this note, taking it in for what its worth, a resident comes and asks for the matter.

"What may be troubling you, Naru-sempai?"

"Oh, it's… Nothing."

She quickly left the scene with a troubled expression on her face.

Motoko read the note beside the phone, and understood why Naru- sempai acted like that. She just didn't notice the number of a hotel in Kyoto written on the back though.

/--

Having checked in the front desk, He was determined to rest for a few hours in his room, undisturbed by any outside forces.

He hung the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the doorknob outside, and called the front desk to hold all of his calls until explicitly advised not to do so. Having done these tasks, he set forth on what he wanted to do since the train ride.

Sleep overcame his senses almost immediately he plopped on the bed.

As he awoke, he was surprised to learn that night has already fallen, and it was around midnight, as he arose from the bed and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror.

Looking at himself, he found himself worn, and quite raggedy. He decided it was time for a shower and a shave.

/--

She has been looking for where Keitaro is all over Kyoto. She was tired, but mostly her mind was tired from worrying about him. Then suddenly, her phone rang, knocking her back to the real world.

"Uh… Hello…?"

"Naru-sempai, we found where the landlord is staying. It was written on the back of the note Keitaro left. We just noticed it."

She kicked herself for not studying the note better.

"Uh… Yeah. What's the hotel? I'll go there now."

"Hotel Renaissance. 715-203-941. we don't know the address, but-"

"I'll take care of it. I'll look for him there."

"But Naru-sempai-"

She pressed the end button on the phone thus ending the phone call with Motoko. She didn't want anyone to interfere. She was going to talk to him no matter what.

She dialed the number on her phone, and a friendly receptionist answered the phone.

"Hotel Renaissance. The best Western-style Hotel in Kyoto. How can I help you?"

"Do you have a Guest named Keitaro Urashima staying there?"

"Please wait a moment, miss."

She tapped her foot in Impatience; for she was too anxious too know if he was there.

"We do have a Guest with that name staying here for… Three days. But he does not want to take calls. Will you leave him a message?"

"No need to. Thank you very much."

She ended the call. That was all she needed. A confirmation that he was there. She hailed an incoming taxi, and got in.

"Hotel Renaissance please."

The Taxi sped off, leaving a rooster trail of dust in its wake.

/--

After taking a much-needed hot bath and shaving made him appear more civilized, He headed down to the bar to get some food and drink. He knew that that wasn't the place to order food, but it was all the same. He wanted to enjoy tonight, after those nights studying for the exams wasted again.

As he descended in the elevator, he wondered on where she was. He felt that she was somewhere close. He wished that it was only a feeling, because the person he least wanted to face now would be her.

As he made his way through the tables, and sat on a stool at the bar, he ordered squid rings, and a small bottle of chilled shochu. He knew the drink way back, when Haitani introduced it to him. He found it enjoying, its strong nature alluring whenever he had problems. As he was pouring himself a drink, someone sat beside him, and tapped his shoulder.

"What do you want-"

He was stopped short of what he was about to stay. He saw Naru staring at him, her eyes prying into his very soul.

Eyes filled with worry and... Sadness.

She was surprised to find him there, sitting on the bar alone. She knew Keitaro wasn't much of a drinker, but this… is surprising. He knew of him as their klutzy landlord of a girls dorm. But of course, as the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover.

She noticed a bewildered and surprised look in his face. Then, he sheepishly looked away and continued eating the squid rings and drinking the contents of the bottle.

"What are you doing here?" He asked with an annoyed tone of voice.

"I was looking all over Kyoto for you…"

"I said I'd be gone for a few days. I asked Haruka to take care of the dorm for a while."

"But…"

"No. I'm not going back yet. I want the few days off I've never taken."

"No, that's not it… about the bar…"

"Save it. I'm… I don't care."

He said that with a voice that was so filled with sadness, so much that she did not believe a word he said. He did care, and he was very angry, and… hurt.

She ordered a glass of beer, and downed it in a few seconds. Thinking that she might need a stiffer drink, she ordered a bottle of tequila.

"I'm not gonna pay for that. And aren't you underage?"

"Who asked you to pay for it? And why do you care?"

He silenced and continued eating some more squid rings. After he has ran out of those, he ordered shrimp tempura.

Naru, on the other hand, ordered an assortment of sushi, and proceeded to speak.

"So, that's it, we'll treat each other as if we were 'perfect strangers' now..."

She let her voice trail off… but she was startled when he spoke.

"I didn't say that. Maybe you said that because you want to be such."

Naru wondered, where was the old Keitaro She didn't realize that the bottle in front of him was already empty.

"I…"

"I have no time for your explanation. I already know what you're going to say. Please, if you excuse me, I'm going to eat at the restaurant."

"Wait…"

She just looked on as he walked away. She put three 10,000 yen bills on the counter, and walked off to the direction where Keitaro was headed.

/--

He really was shocked that they would find the Hotel.

'I must've been stupid to put the note on the calling card of the hotel…'

He boarded the elevator, and pressed the button for his floor. He was intending to go to his room to change for a formal dinner.

As he thought this, He remembered that he had no clothes with him. He pushed the button for the ground floor.

'Ahh… so stupid. I must get to the Hotel boutique.'

When the elevator doors opened, the first thing he saw was a quietly sobbing Naru.

As he followed him, she saw him board the elevator. She planned to follow him to his room, intending to talk to him there.

She remembered the times when he acted like a klutzy, stupid, and innocent-looking pervert minded ronin. She knows that he is a good person at heart, and those things that he did dawned on her, that he was a victim of circumstances.

She was mad with herself for not seeing this earlier. She remembered the times when she sent him into geostationary orbit, and the time that he broke his…

'My God, what have I done…'

As she thought about it all, she had broken his heart. But not only that, she broke her dreams, aspirations, and wish, which were, to get into Toudai, to have somebody to go into Toudai with, and to be liked by someone.

In a seemingly brilliant masterstroke that she did not intend to create, she destroyed all of that.

She quietly sobbed at this thought. She did not see that he was just trying to care for someone, which what he tries to do with everyone.

She was the lucky someone that he wanted to care deeply for.

She began to be teary eyed and her sobbing threatened to be louder.

The elevator doors opened, much to her surprise.

She saw Keitaro standing there with a shocked face.

/--

He really couldn't comprehend what was happening, but the feelings that washed through him made him run away from a teary-eyed Naru.

He just ran, wanting to get away from it all.

He ran through the elevator hall, the restaurant, the boutique and through startled guests. He was crying as he ran.

He ran out of the Hotel's revolving doors and into the cold night. There was still a drizzle, and felt the wetness caress his face.

He dug his face into his hands and cried.

He can hear a loud noise.

Next he saw was white lights. Then he heard a sickening thud as a Limo from the hotel hit his torso, sending him careening across the roadway.

It was not clear, but it appeared that he was barely alive. There was a lot of blood that drenched his clothes and hair.

Naru just stared at this horrific tragedy. And suddenly, without warning, she broke down to her knees and cried.

/--

"He will be fine, but there was severe trauma to his midsection and thus impairs his ability to walk for a while. He needs to be on a wheelchair temporarily until his body is able to recover from the injury. As for his skull, it was cracked and we needed to put a metal plate to augment the weakened area."

"Is that all?"

"Well, there maybe possibility of sluggish behavior right after surgery. He may have slurred speech when he wakes up. Oh, and before I forget, because of the concussion on his head, he might forget a bit of his memory. We don't know until he wakes as to how deeply his memory was affected."

"Thank you very much, Dr. Iwase."

"My pleasure."

The girls watched as Dr. Iwase walked away. They were all there, except Naru who was still huddled in the corner, staring blankly into the wall.

Keitaro parents were on the way onboard the bullet train, and were due to arrive in 3 hours.

Keitaro was in the ICU. His injuries were so bad that he was almost on the brink of death, if were not for the ambulance nearby, he would've died on the spot. They were all thankful that he was alive, but Naru was still blaming herself. It was all she did. The words she muttered during that time were "I'm… sorry… very… sorry-" then she just got down on her knees suddenly, and cried.

As the girls watched him from the ICU window, he was breathing silently. The respirator working properly, the ECG showing his vital signs were normal. A nurse was currently checking up on him.

As Naru came to her senses, she walked up to where the girls were watching Keitaro, and stared at his enfeebled state.

Through the intercom, they only heard his breathing through the respirator. Suddenly they heard the word.

"Sorry… Everybody…"

Then, as if on cue, the ECG displayed a flatlining heart rate.

"Cardiac arrest! Get me the paddles, quick!"

"Call Dr. Iwase from the lounge, hurry!"

"Call Dr. Kurosaki, the cardiologist!"

"WHERE ARE MY PADDLES!"

The girls, including Naru, watched as the nurses and doctors struggled to keep him alive. The blinds were drawn, and the things they only heard was the shouts and the beeping sound of the defibrillator.

/--

As they all waited in the Reception Hall, an air of tension and fear filled the room.

They all heard the bell installed in the door, and with the sound emerged a doctor in scrubs.

"I'm very sorry. We have done everything we could…"

"Whaddya mean you've done everythin' you could?" Kitsune blurted out.

"He… he didn't make it. We weren't able to… save him. There was an unseen blood clot that formed up in his brain. On top of that, he seemed… intent on dying. The emotional condition of the patient is important…."

As Naru heard all of this, she was dumfounded. She wasn't able to talk. All she can think about was that he was dead. By her own doing. By her actions, she had killed someone. But, she still felt nothing. She only felt empty.

As she fainted, her eyes had no focus, they appeared glazed-over, and her body was rapidly losing its desperate cling to life…

She was awakened by the harsh knocking on the closet door.

"Oi, Rukia, shut up already! If you keep on doing that, you'll wake the whole house up!"

She swept open the closet door and found Ichigo, bewildered and not having the usual scowl but instead a worried look and sleepy eyes.

"ICHIGO! What did I tell you about disturbing me! I was having a good night's sleep, and…"

"The hell you were! You were screaming and thrashing and saying some guy's name… what was that? Oh, its… Keitaro. Yeah that's it! Who's he, your new boyfriend?"

"Damn you Ichigo! you know I have no taste for THAT kind of things…"

Ichigo spotted something on the floor beneath the closet door.

"Hmm, what's this? A manga. 'Love Hina vol. 3'. Don't tell me you've been reading this! This is a Seinen! I thought you had no interest…! H-HEY"

Rukia suddenly snatched the manga from Ichigo's hands and threw it inside the closet

"Its none of your business! Why… Oooh, I think Ichigo's worrying for me…"

She pointed a finger at him while having her 'matter-of-factly' voice.

"WHA-WHAAAT? NO WAY!" Ichigo turned his head in fake disgust.

"Its okay, Ichigo…"

Rukia's expression suddenly softened to something that of affection.

/-----\

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, even it is kinda crappy. Oh well, I'm a first timer. Need more experience… Please review! All kinds of criticism are welcome, flames too, need heat to boil my water… and keep me grindin'… IchiRuki and KeitaroxNaru all the way! w 00t!


End file.
